Stats
- Hit Dice: d8
- Weapon Proficiencies: Finesse OR Crossbow (pick one), plus 1 of your choice
- Armor Proficiencies: Light
Class Equipment
Pick two at character creation
- Instrument of Minor Charm: Captivate an audience during a performance, holding their attention for up to 10 minutes.
- Harmony Earrings: Hear conversations clearly up to 20 hexes away, even through moderate noise or crowd chatter.
- Lore Crystal: Once per day, ask the crystal one simple lore question and receive a truthful, brief answer.
- Songbook of Translation: Once per day, understand and speak any spoken language fluently for up to 1 hour.
- Mood Ring of Empathy: Sense the general emotional state of one target you can see. Passive; always active.
Core Features
| Level | Feature | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inspiration | Gain the Inspiration resource and access to Inspiration Abilities |
| 3 | Crowd Pleaser | Expand critical success range and gain a reroll when witnessed by 3+ people |
| 5 | Path Selection | Choose a path and gain your first path feature; Journeyman Class Tier — see Path Selection |
| 8 | Preceding Reputation | Spend Inspiration to elevate your social success tier for a scene |
| 13 | Performer’s Prestige | Spend Inspiration to open doors and establish lasting contacts |
| 19 | The Performance Was the Con | Retroactively reveal any interaction this session served a secret purpose |
Inspiration
Bards carry a resource called Inspiration — a mix of accumulated goodwill, dramatic timing, and the confidence that comes from knowing you’re the most interesting person in the room.
You may bank up to Level ÷ 2 Inspiration at a time (minimum 1), and begin the game with 1 Inspiration already available.
Generating Inspiration: You gain Inspiration from the following sources:
- Once per day, you gain 1 Inspiration automatically.
- Witnessing — When you accomplish something story-worthy in front of an audience (surviving a deadly encounter, winning over a hostile crowd, pulling off a daring infiltration, etc.), gain 1 Inspiration. GM discretion applies.
- Secrets — When you learn a secret, piece of significant lore, or insider knowledge not freely available, gain 1 Inspiration. GM discretion applies.
Spending Inspiration: Inspiration can be spent on the following Inspiration Abilities:
Vagabond’s Versatility
At the start of each day, choose one non-combat skill category (Physical, Mental, Social, Technical, or Knowledge). You may spend 1 Inspiration to gain Advantage on any skill check within that category.
Troubadour’s Trust
Spend 1 Inspiration to learn information people wouldn’t normally share with outsiders — personal secrets, family gossip, local scandals, insider knowledge about organizations or politics. This represents confidence extended to a trusted storyteller, not information pried loose through persuasion.
Performer’s Debt
Spend 1 Inspiration to call in a favor from someone who owes you one — or who simply liked your last performance enough to help. This covers minor assistance: a place to sleep, a tip about local trouble, a distraction created at the right moment. The GM determines the scope based on who you’re asking and how recently you impressed them.
Crowd Pleaser
When making non-combat skill checks witnessed by 3 or more people, your critical success range expands by +5 (≤05 becomes ≤10).
Additionally, once per day when witnessed by 3 or more people, you may reroll any single failed non-combat check and take the better result.
Preceding Reputation
Cost: 3 Inspiration
For the remainder of the current scene or social encounter, any NPC who has heard of you — or who witnesses you do something impressive during this scene — treats your social skill checks as one success tier higher than rolled. A Normal Success becomes a Hard Success; a Hard Success becomes a Major Success. This does not affect combat.
Performer’s Prestige
Your reputation has grown into something that opens doors.
Secure an Audience: Spend 3 Inspiration to gain an audience with a figure of local importance — a guild master, minor noble, temple official, or equivalent. In major cities or capitals, this reaches mid-tier figures rather than the highest authorities.
Establish a Contact: Spend 5 Inspiration to establish a lasting contact in your current settlement. This contact has meaningful resources or connections within their community. You may only establish one contact per settlement this way. The GM determines their exact nature and capabilities based on circumstances.
The Performance Was the Con
Frequency: Once per session
Once per session, you may reveal that any interaction you had with an NPC or group during this session — however brief or mundane — was secretly serving a second purpose. A casual conversation at a market stall was extracting information. A friendly exchange with a guard was establishing a false alibi. A public appearance was planting an impression you needed someone to carry.
Declare the interaction and your true intent. Provided the intent was plausible given what you actually did and what you could have known at the time, it succeeds automatically — no roll required.
The GM’s only check is plausibility. You cannot retroactively claim a purpose that would have required information unavailable to you when the interaction occurred.
Path Selection (Level 5)
At Level 5, Bards must choose their specialization path:
Battle Muse specializes in combat support through performative excellence. They never steal the spotlight — instead, their own combat mastery sets the beat for the entire party, making everyone around them perform above their individual capability.
Songweaver specializes in magical musical performance. Rather than fighting directly, the Songweaver sustains powerful Song auras that bend the battlefield around the music — buffing allies, debuffing enemies, and unleashing gated burst effects through careful buildup.
Battle Muse Path
| Level | Feature | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Battle Rhythm | Your hits set a beat that improves ally attacks |
| 6 | Seize the Moment | Turn critical failures into tactical advantages; spend Inspiration to inject FP into allies |
| 10 | Conductor’s Command | Share a Flow Action from your weapon with all nearby allies |
| 11 | Rallying Cry | React to a falling ally by generating party FP and triggering a second wind |
| 14 | Crescendo | Maintain a Tempo rating that buffs party damage and crit range |
| 16 | All for One | Injured allies heal for each ally attack that lands after Rallying Cry triggers |
| 17 | Bravissimo | Upgrade Crescendo with enhanced Tempo generation and a once-per-combat nova |
| 20 | Battlefield Maestro | Become the ultimate combat conductor; the party performs at a legendary level |
Battle Rhythm
When you successfully hit an enemy, all allies within 6 hexes gain a bonus to their next attack’s Combat Skill Check as you create an inspiring beat through your movements and calls. This bonus persists until either your next turn or until the ally makes their next attack, whichever comes first. The bonus stacks if you hit multiple times before an ally attacks.
| Class Tier | Attack Bonus |
|---|---|
| Journeyman | +2 |
| Expert | +4 |
| Master | +6 |
| Legendary | +8 |
Seize the Moment
When you critically fail any check in combat, you may choose to make an Acrobatics or Influence check to turn your blunder into a deliberate distraction.
- Success: Choose to grant all allies within 6 hexes Advantage on their next attack, OR give all enemies within 6 hexes Disadvantage on their next attack before your next turn.
- Critical Success: The chosen effect applies to the next 2 attacks instead.
- Failure: No effect.
- Critical Failure: You fall Prone and drop your weapons.
Additionally, once per combat you may spend 1 Inspiration at any time — even outside your turn — to grant 4 FP to yourself or any ally within 12 hexes.
Conductor’s Command
Cost: 2 FP to activate; free to sustain; 2 FP to change the shared action
Choose one melee or ranged Flow Action from a weapon type you are proficient with. Until you choose to end it or change it, all allies within 6 hexes may use that Flow Action for its normal FP cost when making attacks with appropriate weapons (melee Flow Actions require melee weapons, ranged require ranged).
Spending 2 FP changes the shared Flow Action to a different one of your choice. No FP is required to sustain the current shared action between turns.
Allies only need to be within 6 hexes of you when they use the Flow Action, not when you initially activate Conductor’s Command.
Rallying Cry
Cost: 2 FP Trigger: An ally within 6 hexes falls below 10 HP Frequency: Once per ally per combat
When an ally within 6 hexes falls below 10 HP, you may spend 2 FP as a Reaction. All allies within 6 hexes immediately gain 2 FP and cannot be affected by fear or morale-breaking effects until the end of the next round.
Additionally, for each ally attack that hits before the start of the injured ally’s next turn, the injured ally recovers 3 HP.
Crescendo
You maintain a Tempo rating during combat, representing the rhythm and momentum of the fight. Tempo starts at 0, has a minimum of 0, and a maximum of 10.
- When any ally lands an attack, Tempo increases by 1.
- When any ally is hit by an attack, Tempo decreases by 1.
All allies within 6 hexes gain bonus damage and expanded crit range based on current Tempo. This bonus updates immediately as Tempo changes.
| Tempo | Damage Bonus | Crit Range Expansion |
|---|---|---|
| 0–1 | +0 | +0 |
| 2–3 | +1 | +1 |
| 4–5 | +2 | +2 |
| 6–7 | +3 | +3 |
| 8–9 | +4 | +4 |
| 10 | +5 | +5 |
When Tempo reaches 10, you gain 1 Inspiration. This can only occur once per day.
All for One
Upgrades: Rallying Cry
The HP recovery from Rallying Cry increases to 5 HP per ally attack that hits before the start of the injured ally’s next turn.
Additionally, the FP granted to all allies increases from 2 FP to 3 FP.
Bravissimo
Upgrades: Crescendo
Crescendo gains the following improvements:
- When any ally lands a Critical Success on an attack, Tempo increases by 2 instead of 1.
- Once per combat, you may spend 7 FP to double the effects of Crescendo for 1 round. All damage bonuses and crit range expansions are doubled for their current Tempo value for the duration of that round.
- You may spend 2 FP as a Reaction to an ally being hit to prevent the Tempo decrease that hit would cause.
Battlefield Maestro
You have become the ultimate combat conductor. The following upgrades apply permanently:
- Conductor’s Command no longer requires an activation cost. It is always active. Changing the shared Flow Action still costs 2 FP.
- Crescendo’s bonuses now scale at +1 damage and +1 crit range per Tempo point rather than per 2 points. At Tempo 10, all allies within 6 hexes gain +10 damage and their crit range expands by +10.
- Spend 2 Inspiration to grant all allies Advantage on the next roll of their choice. This expires at the end of combat if unused.
- At the start of each combat, declare one ally as your First Chair. For this ally, any Major Success is treated as a Critical Success for all intents and purposes.
Songweaver Path
The world is full of fighters, schemers, and spellcasters — but there are few things more unsettling to an enemy, or more heartening to an ally, than music that simply will not stop. The Songweaver does not wade into the thick of things. They stand apart, instrument in hand, and play. What comes out is something older than spells and more personal than tactics: music that reaches into the people around it and changes what they’re capable of. Allies find themselves faster, sharper, harder to kill. Enemies find their confidence eroding, their magic slipping, their feet turning to lead. The Songweaver never throws a punch. They don’t need to.
| Level | Feature | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Performer | Learn all universal Songs; choose your instrument |
| 6 | Minstrel’s Knowledge | Draw on accumulated lore to reveal useful information |
| 10 | Expanded Repertoire | Learn Songs 11–13; gain Chord Change |
| 11 | Minstrel as Muse | The party gains an edge when they act on your knowledge |
| 14 | Bridge | Follow one Chorus immediately with a second from a different Song |
| 16 | Instrument Mastery | Gain a passive benefit based on your instrument |
| 17 | Medley | Sustain two Songs simultaneously |
| 20 | Magnum Opus | The pinnacle of musical mastery |
Performer (Level 5)
Song Structure
Every Song has three components:
- Melody — A passive aura that is always active while the Song is sustained. Sustaining a Melody is free. Unless an effect specifies otherwise, Melody effects are continuous for as long as the Song is sustained.
- Highlight — A targeted active effect costing 2 AP. Requires a Spellcasting check before declaring targets; on failure the AP is spent and the effect does not fire. On a Major Success or better, one additional target is affected. Unless stated otherwise, non-consumable Highlight effects (i.e. effects not triggered by “next attack” or similar language) last until the start of the Songweaver’s next turn.
- Chorus — A powerful capstone on a Song. In order to use a Chorus, you must have spent 2 full rounds sustaining the Song, allowing you to use a Chorus on the third round or later. Requires a Spellcasting check before declaring targets; on failure the AP is spent but your sustain count does not reset, and you may attempt the Chorus again on a future turn. On a Critical Success, your next buildup toward this Song’s Chorus begins with 1 round already completed. On a Critical Failure of either Highlight or Chorus, you must immediately make a second Spellcasting check at Disadvantage — on failure, your Song ends immediately. Unless stated otherwise, non-consumable Chorus effects last until the start of the Songweaver’s next turn.
SPECIAL RULE: Silence and Songs
A Silence effect does not interrupt a Songweaver’s active Song. Instead, for the duration of the Silence effect, all Spellcasting checks made to use Highlights and Choruses are made at Disadvantage. Once you successfully use a Highlight or Chorus while under a Silence effect, further checks against that same Silence effect are made at only −10 to your Spellcasting skill rather than full Disadvantage.
Song Actions
| Action | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Start Song | 2 AP | Activate a new Song OR switch to a different one; switching resets Chorus buildup to 0 |
| Sustain | Free | Keeps Melody active; advances Chorus buildup by 1 |
| Highlight | 2 AP | Spellcasting check first; on success affects 1 target (more on Major Success or better) |
| Chorus | 3 AP | Spellcasting check first; requires 2 full rounds of sustain; buildup only resets on Critical Failure |
Instrument Types
Your instrument is a personal choice and can be changed freely — carrying multiple instruments is not only permitted but encouraged. What matters is which instrument you are actively playing when you Start a Song; that instrument’s rules apply for the duration of that Song.
| Type | Melody Resilience |
|---|---|
| 1-Handed Instrument | Melody only stops on hard disables (incapacitation) |
| 2-Handed Instrument | Same resilience as 1-Handed; access to exclusive Songs marked (2H Exclusive) |
| Vocal | Each time you take any damage, you must make a Spellcasting check with Advantage or your sustained Song(s) stop immediately. If you take damage equal to or greater than 25% of your maximum HP in a single hit, no check is permitted — the Song(s) stop immediately. |
SPECIAL RULE: Songs Outside Combat
Outside of combat, AP and round durations do not apply. Instead, each “round” of a Song is treated as 1 hour of sustained performance. Melody effects apply passively for the duration of that hour. A Highlight may be used once per hour of sustained Song. Choruses remain available but require 2 full hours of prior sustain.
Spellcasting checks for Highlights and Choruses are still required outside of combat. On a Critical Failure outside of combat, the Song ends and cannot be restarted for 10 minutes.
Songs that impose debuffs on enemies (Dirge of Doubt, Dissonance, Funeral March) may be used in non-combat situations at GM discretion.
Full Song List
All Songweavers learn all Songs progressively — there is no selection mechanic. Songs marked (2H Exclusive) are only available to Songweavers currently wielding a 2-Handed instrument. Songs 11–13 are learned at level 10 via Expanded Repertoire.
| Song | Melody (passive aura, earshot = 12 hexes) | Highlight (2 AP, Spellcasting check required) | Chorus (3 AP, Spellcasting check required, 2 full rounds of sustain required) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song of Alacrity | Allies gain +2 hexes to Speed. Take a Step moves up to 2 hexes instead of 1. | One target (ally or enemy) is moved up or down 1 place in the initiative order. | Ally movement within earshot does not provoke Reaction Attacks. |
| Waltz of Warding (declare DR or one elemental Resistance when the Song starts) | Allies gain flat DR or Resistance to one element: • Tier 1: 2 • Tier 2: 4 • Tier 3: 6 • Tier 4: 8 • Tier 5: 10 | The Melody’s value is doubled and applies as both DR and all elemental Resistances. | Allies within earshot gain Advantage on their next Endurance check and ignore all Persistent damage this round. |
| Song of Poise | Allies cannot be Ganged Up on unless 4 or more enemies are adjacent to them. | One ally’s next Dodge, Parry, or Block reaction has Advantage. | All allies within earshot immediately gain +1 RP. |
| Savant’s Song (declare one skill when the Song starts) | Allies gain +10 to a single Skill of your choice, chosen when the Song starts. | One ally’s next check using the declared skill is increased by one success level (Critical Failure → Failure → Success → Hard Success → Major Success → Critical Success). | All allies within earshot may use the bard’s skill rating instead of their own for one check using the declared skill. |
| Rallying Song | Allies gain temp HP (refreshes but does not stack each round): • Tier 1: 5 • Tier 2: 10 • Tier 3: 15 • Tier 4: 20 • Tier 5: 25 | One ally is cleared of all negative status effects. | All allies within earshot immediately make a free save against one ongoing condition of their choice. Both status effects and persistent damage are valid. |
| Battlesong | Allies gain +5 to Combat Skill checks. | One ally gains Advantage on an attack roll of their choice. | One ally may increase the success level of one successful attack by one step. |
| Dirge of Doubt | Enemies have Disadvantage on Endurance and Willpower checks. | One target’s next attack costs +1 AP. | Enemies within earshot cannot take the same action more than once this round. “Attack” and “cast a spell” each count as a single action type regardless of target or spell. |
| Dissonance | Enemies sustaining ongoing spells or magical effects (including Hexes) must make a Spellcasting or Willpower check at the start of their turn or immediately end the effect. A single check applies to all sustained effects. | One target cannot cast spells (including via Silent Metamagic) or make any sound for 1 round. | Enemies within earshot must spend additional Mana on any spell cast this round, including Novice spells: • Tier 1: +1 • Tier 2: +2 • Tier 3: +3 • Tier 4: +4 • Tier 5: +5 |
| Funeral March (2H Exclusive) | Enemies within earshot are Slowed (movement costs 2 AP; no Step Action). | One target enemy is Stunned for 1 round. | Enemies within earshot cannot make Reaction Attacks this round. |
| Lifesong (2H Exclusive) | Allies heal HP at the start of their turn (cumulative real healing, unlike Rallying Song): • Tier 1: 3 • Tier 2: 6 • Tier 3: 9 • Tier 4: 12 • Tier 5: 15 | One ally heals 1d10 per Bard Class Tier. | All allies within earshot heal 1d6 per Bard Class Tier. |
| ----------------- | LEARNED AT LEVEL 10 via | Expanded Repertoire | ----------------------- |
| Song of Striking | All ally attacks and spells deal bonus damage (damage type TBD — pending RPG-59): • Tier 1: +2 • Tier 2: +4 • Tier 3: +6 • Tier 4: +8 • Tier 5: +10 | One ally’s next attack or spell deals +2 damage dice. | The party’s crit range is increased by 5. |
| Song of Unraveling | Beneficial magical effects on enemies within earshot last half as long (rounded down). | Remove all active beneficial magical effects from one target enemy. | Remove one beneficial magical effect of the bard’s choice from every enemy within earshot. |
| Song of Heroism (2H Exclusive) | Allies within earshot gain +1 AP at the start of their turn. | One ally immediately gains 1 RP and 3 FP. | Each ally’s first attack or spell this round costs 1 AP less than normal. |
Minstrel’s Knowledge (Level 6)
Cost: 1 Inspiration Frequency: 1/day
When the party encounters a named location, organization, notable NPC, or ongoing conflict, you may spend 1 Inspiration to draw on your years of accumulated gossip, folk stories, and traveler’s tales to reveal one piece of practically useful information about it that would not be apparent from observation alone. The GM provides a truthful answer relevant to the party’s current situation. Information revealed this way does not count as “learning a secret” for the purposes of generating Inspiration.
Expanded Repertoire (Level 10)
You learn three additional Songs and gain the Chord Change ability.
Additional Songs
| Song | Melody | Highlight | Chorus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song of Striking | All ally attacks and spells deal bonus damage: • Tier 1: +2 • Tier 2: +4 • Tier 3: +6 • Tier 4: +8 • Tier 5: +10 | One ally’s next attack or spell deals +2 damage dice. | The party’s crit range is increased by 5. |
| Song of Unraveling | Beneficial magical effects on enemies within earshot last half as long (rounded down). | Remove all active beneficial magical effects from one target enemy. | Remove one beneficial magical effect of the bard’s choice from every enemy within earshot. |
| Song of Heroism (2H Exclusive) | Allies within earshot gain +1 AP at the start of their turn. | One ally immediately gains 1 RP and 3 FP. | Each ally’s first attack or spell this round costs 1 AP less than normal. |
Chord Change
Cost: 4 AP
Switch to a new Song without resetting your Chorus buildup. The new Song begins with the same buildup count as your previous Song. When using Chord Change while in Medley, you can only switch one Song at a time.
Minstrel as Muse (Level 11)
Upgrades: Minstrel’s Knowledge
If the party meaningfully acts on information revealed through Minstrel’s Knowledge, the party gets Advantage on one key roll involving the usage of that knowledge, and the Songweaver gains 1 Inspiration. GM discretion applies.
Bridge (Level 14)
Cost: 3 AP (Chorus of current Song) + 2 AP + 1 Inspiration
When you use a Chorus, you may immediately spend 2 AP and 1 Inspiration to perform the Chorus of a second Song as if you had met its buildup requirement. You are now sustaining the second Song, with 0 rounds of buildup accumulated toward its next Chorus.
Instrument Mastery (Level 16)
You gain a passive benefit based on the instrument you are currently playing. These benefits apply whenever the relevant instrument type is in use.
- Curtain Call (Vocal) — When your Song(s) drop involuntarily from any source, you may immediately make a Spellcasting check at Advantage to use the Highlight of the interrupted Song against any valid target within earshot (12 hexes) at no AP cost.
- Fleet Fingered (1-Handed) — Once per round, after using a Highlight, you may immediately make one attack for 1 AP. This attack deals an additional 2d6 damage.
- Encore (2-Handed) — Once per combat, when you use a Chorus, the buildup counter does not reset.
Medley (Level 17)
You may sustain two Songs simultaneously. When starting a second Song while already sustaining one, the second Song costs an additional 1 AP on top of the normal 2 AP Start Song cost (3 AP total). The second Song’s Melody activates immediately. Both Songs’ sustain is free each subsequent round.
While in Medley:
- You cannot use the Highlight of either active Song.
- Each Song’s Chorus buildup is tracked separately.
- Using a Chorus immediately ends all other active Songs.
When using Chord Change during Medley, you can only switch one Song at a time.
Magnum Opus (Level 20)
Your mastery of musical performance has reached its apex. The following upgrades apply permanently:
- All Melody effects are twice as powerful. This means the bonus they grant is doubled — for example, Song of Alacrity’s Speed bonus increases from +2 to +4 hexes, and Take a Step increases from 2 hexes to 3. For Songs with qualitative or non-numerical Melodies, the GM determines the appropriate doubling:
- Dirge of Doubt — Enemies now also suffer −10 to Endurance and Willpower checks in addition to Disadvantage.
- Dissonance — The check to maintain spells is made at Disadvantage.
- Funeral March — Movement costs increase from 2 AP to 3 AP while Slowed.
- Song of Unraveling — Beneficial effects last one quarter as long (rounded down) instead of half.
- Medley can now sustain up to three Songs simultaneously. Each additional Song beyond the first costs 1 AP to start and sustains freely each round.
- Your Highlights now affect up to 2 valid targets simultaneously.
- Minstrel’s Knowledge may now be used 3 times per day.
Additionally, each instrument type gains a capstone improvement:
- Vocal — You can no longer be interrupted by damage of any kind. When subjected to a silencing effect, you may make a Willpower check against your own Willpower score — on a success, the effect is ignored and your Song continues uninterrupted.
- 1-Handed — The attack granted by Fleet Fingered is now free (0 AP) and triggers after every Highlight, not once per round.
- 2-Handed — Whenever you use a Highlight targeting an ally, you also receive the Highlight effect yourself at no AP cost. Combined with the base Magnum Opus upgrade, a Highlight targeting an ally hits that ally, one additional valid target, and yourself — three applications total.